#IF THERE IS STUFF YOU ARE WONDERING ABOUT THAT ISN'T INCLUDED IN THE LIST PLEASE JUST ASK

[drawingroomanguish]

Heyy I'm opening commissions here too.

More examples below:

Other examples of 30€ style:

Examples of 50€ style:

Examples of 90€ style:

[trinketfairy]

SQUISHMALLOWS/BUM BUMZ ALTERNATIVE MASTERPOST

After posting my warning on Jazwares for supporting Israel, I've been asked time and time again to make my alternative plushies brands available for non-Twitter users, to which I say "absolutely, fuck that site." It's well overdue at this point, so here's my list of plush brands that are way better than Squishmallows and Bum Bumz!

Unfortunately can't provide images due to Tumblr's image limit, but I'll provide websites for you to search through when available.

Complete list is under a readmore for convenience.

Squishables: If you want that same "kawaii" aesthetic and round shapes, Squishables is your best bet. They're great too because a lot of their plush are designed by fans who are given a cut of their sales. Sign up for their email notifications, they have sales very often!

Amuse/Amufun: If you're really into the "kawaii" aesthetic, then it makes sense to look directly towards Japanese brands! You may know them for their Alpacasso line. It can be expensive to get them imported, but I think they're very much worth it.

Jellycat: I can't say I 100% recommend their newer plush anymore considering their steep decline in quality, but their older plush are still so wonderful and full of character. You're bound to find something by them that you like from their catalogue. (Editor's note: This is what my original thread said, but it seems like Jellycat has improved their quality control, so I feel much better with recommending them again!)

Mary Meyer: If JC is too much out of your price range, then Mary Meyer is what I recommend next to them! Their Marshmallow Zoo line is a huge favourite of mine, I love how full of character they are.

Aurora World: Aurora World has plenty of brands under their belt, so there's bound to be something that tickles your fancy. Brands under the Aurora World company include Palm Pals, Eco Nation, Miyoni, and their baby line, Ebba.

Steiff: Ah yes, the OG teddy bear brand, the one that started it all and is still going strong. Be warned that they can get pretty expensive depending on what you're looking at, but I hear that they're so worth every single penny.

Douglas Cuddle Toys: Probably the quintessential plush brand when it comes to realistic plush, especially cats and dogs, but they have tons of other species available too! Pretty affordable too if you're buying them at retail price

Wild Republic: Another one that does more realistic-looking plush, but I think they have a wider selection of species to choose from. If you're looking for a niche animal, Wild Republic (likely) has you covered!

Shinada Morisaka Global: Another plush brand I have yet to get my hands on, but one that I hear fantastic things about. I mean come on, how can you not love these little guys??

Pokemon Center: Jazwares unfortunately holds the license to make Pokemon plush, but that doesn't mean they're your only option when it comes to Pokeplush! TPC has been making their own Pokeplush for ages now, and they have plenty of different lines to suit your tastes.

Sunlemon: They're expensive to get imported but oh my god are they worth it. The quality is truly umatched compared to American plushies, I adore my tanuki to bits. Please get more eyes on their stuff.

Prime Shiba: Definitely a more expensive option, but I think they're cute plushies for every dog lover. Their stuff often goes on sale often so definitely take advantage of them!

Plushie Dreadfuls: You've probably seen one of their mental illness-themed bunnies before, but have you seen their Pride and Zodiac collections too? They also have many generic-looking plush if the personalization isn't up your alley! Ok so this was in my Twitter thread but apparently since then some shit has gone down with the company CEO making some offhand remarks that got misinterpreted but he acted like an ass in response to it, I recommend doing your own research on it before you buy in case that's not something you wanna support.

StrawbunnyCake: Want to go more small business? Consider supporting a fellow disabled creator, StrawbunnyCake! Their stuff is adorable, and you're sure to fall in love with their characters.

Hannimations: Also on the list of small businesses is Hannimator! Easily best known for their Pride-related Colourful Puppies/Kittens plush lines

Paleoplushies: If you're super into dinosaurs and other preshistoric animals, then Paleoplushies is sure to have something you'll like! They're all handmade by a single artist, so please show them your love and kindness

Cirquell Curiosities: Another great small business to support, most known for their high-end demon goat plushies! A lot of their stuff is one of a kind too, so they're the place to go if you're looking for a unique plush.

Snughouls: The unique and elusive Care Weres line by McMadMissile is sure to win over your heart! It originally started as just being the werewolves, but has since expanded to all kinds of demonic creatures from the Kickstarter! There's even some designs waiting to be funded!

Next are a bunch of brands that weren't personally recommended by me, but get my seal of approval:

AfternoonFika

Creep Cat Toy Co.

Weighted Wildlife

Tasty Peach Studios

Bunnies By The Bay

Snoozimals

Smoko

ChottoBonita

Honeylambs

CraftedCuddlez

Cyborutchi

Fluffnest

MarDeLunaArts (+ on Etsy)

Bellzi

B Softies by B Toys

That's all I have to share, but if you have any other brands you think are worth highlighting then by all means I invite you to reblog with your additions. Please remember that this is a collective effort and we're all counting on each other to act. Keep your head up, don't stop talking about Palestine, and remember to prioritize the official BDS brands list. From the river to the sea 🇵🇸🍉🕊️🫒

[the-fandom-is-now-my-life]

Masterlist

"Masterlist? What is that?"

"it's mostly a record of the writings here, feel welcome to have a look and see if something catches your eye" she turns around and points to the the book detailing where every book or pages should

"last time I updated it was june 21, so it can get a bit behind but usually everything is in here"

"a magical land where people are able to handle elements as they please, a bit too fantastical for my liking but she seems to enjoy writing them"

Tokyo debunker

There is a separate section for this subject, best visit it for the list.

Genshin impact

There is a folder on the table and named with perfect cursive handwriting "Holy offsprings". It seems it's a collection of small works

A bouquet of feelings

Sometimes actions have unexpected consequences. Good thing Aether knows how to fix this one.

Ancient language au

A long forgotten tongue slips away from their lips to the ears of people who believe it's their god's language

Read my lips

"to suddenly be left in a world where I couldn't read anything... Such a torture"

Universal language

After alhaitham found your ability you were almost forced to work for the academia translating works, some misunderstandings arise

Great sage au

A foreign face settles as a country's sage and tries to help, even when it isn't all that easy

Prologue

As a former player the new great sage had a nice base of knowledge to stand on plus some new tools

Such a backstabber

His duty with sumeru has gotten him into a trail leading to you and believes you to be a danger. For some reason the proof he has reminds you of something… wait a minute.

Over tea

Luckily after cyno recognized them as not guilty they were allowed to return to their position and enjoy their new found love for tea. Seemingly the nation's calmness has lead to people allowing themselves to fantasize about their bosses’ love life

Everything feels so beautiful

"this one fits in the timeline but I'm not sure if even the writer knows how or when..."

Secret husband timeline

Be it because of secretiveness or nobody believing it was possible nobody found out about your marriage with the iudex until someone says it straight up. Oops

The first two are two different beginnings

How the iudex sleeps

"why did she choose for him to have a resemblance with otters? Even then it's a really sweet domestic piece"

Melusines say the darndest things

sometimes children can slip up and accidentally say more than desired. In this case the journalists are very happy about that.

Drabbles

Would they peel an orange for you?

"mhmm... I wonder why she chose oranges, I think she likes better pomegranate. Wouldn't it be more fitting 'would they open a pomegranate for you?' but I guess at the end it's the same intention"

Do they know if you wear silver or gold?

"I only ever wear this uniform, I'm not really sure how important that kind of stuff is"

Types of baby daddy

"my father has been a 'baby daddy' many times, including my and my sisters' conception and many of our half siblings. Despicable man. He even runs as fast as the thunders he throws so he is hard to catch"

Your ex in my body or me in their body

"seemingly this question is used to pick a fight with your lover, I'm not sure why would you, though"

Ideas

"some blurbs or unrefined concepts, maybe in the future they can become something more polished"

Npc sagau

"suddenly strangers and your loved ones start acting as mindless zombies and only certain people seem to wake up but you are unable to know when... It sounds stressful doesn't it?"

Living together (npc sagau)

Obey me

"it would make sense for them to live close by the only people you can speak with"

"It's a kind of undefined academic environment in hell? I heard from other visitors that highschool and university are difficult and sometimes unenjoyable but isn't this a bit too on the nose? Either way seemingly she could romance demons, angels and a... Regular human? I'm sure she did not... My goodness"

Night bringer saga

All this happen during night bringer but aren't particularly connected or in a particular timeline!

Love language: acts of service

After being temporarily transformed into a demon you find that there are some gaps in your knowledge of demon features care but Solomon is very happy to help

With the firstborn's ring I made you mine

A before bed chat with Solomon leads to you showing some concerns about wearing the ring of light so openly and he offers himself as a scapegoat

Love language, gift giving

He is old enough and famous enough that he can spend some money on superfluous gift and extra candies as long as you smile at him

The sorcerer's demonic firstborn

Nobody is exempt from Mother nature's cruel whims, not even the all powerful sorcerer that defied death. Some friends of yours help you with your dream

Twisted wonderland

"another fantasy setting that happens in a world where people can use Magic and a school? I'm seeing a pattern with her likings. Just tell me she wrote for a prince or a future king or- it's just a guy with white hair again? No just because he is sleepy doesn't make him different, writer..."

Forced fairytale

The tale of the sleeping beauty is one he holds dear, be it because it's related to his great grandmother or his dorm, malleus can't help but feel like silver and the prefect would be such a perfect modern retelling.

[mullermilkshake]

Suguru's troubles at the club after the clan meeting

Yakuza!Suguru, Hostess!Utahime, Yakuza!Miguel Things unravel further and fingers point to places Suguru never thought was an option.

<- Back to arc masterlist

The Suguru arrived at the club, it was far less dramatic than it appeared once he marched through the doors.

No furniture out of place, the lights were on and the mechanical fixtures twisted and shimmered over the walls like glitter. Just like they were supposed to.

So what stopped the club from opening, and what were those men doing inside that was so secretive, no one knew at the time besides Yuji Itadori?

They did not destroy Suguru's club, or even steal every bottle of alcohol including the top shelf stuff so that the place was dryer than a funeral.

"No money was taken at all?"

Suguru couldn't believe his ears, he came in through the doors prepare for a nights loss gone, but it was far worse than that.

Utahime stood there with a scowl and her arms crossed, "No they didn't, but what they did, you won't be excited about."

"What did they take?"

There were only a handful of things that could cause damage to the club and Suguru dreaded to think. The pit of his stomach twitched and gnawed away at his side, her response wasn't anything good.

"The client list."

"What?" that list was locked away behind two hardened safe doors. "How did they get a hold of that so quickly?"

"We don't know what they used, just that the book is gone as well as all of the add-ons for the other clubs." Utahime's pager went off, she looked down and fiddled with it, cursing to herself.

"Nanami's been buzzing me off the hook- like I actually knew something. I only came in half hour ago and Miguel isn't even here. No one was, Jesus this is a shit show."

So Nanami was still in the dark too? "This isn't good. Taking those records haven't just taken wages and profits. They've taken months of accumulating money these places make."

Whoever it was knew what they were doing right from the get go. And the most sickening thing was, that Nanami nor the entire Ryomen clan knew who had done this.

Sukuna was going to be pissed and the whole ordeal had made Suguru so late for dinner. What a fucking disaster.

"Mr Geto."

"Miguel."

"I came as soon as I found out," he adjusted his rolled shirt sleeves as the doors closed behind him. "I had no idea or I would have been-"

"It's fine. This couldn't have been avoided, as shit as it is. This was meticulously planned down to the letter if they were able to get to the client list."

Miguel shook his head and made his way over next to Utahime. "No one was hurt, right?"

"No," she shook her head. "There was no one on sight- Jesus this guy can page when I don't need it. But try and contact him when he's having his alone time... Sorry boys, I need to get to a pay phone."

Utahime fiddled with her pager and stormed off towards the exit. Suguru wondered who could have had access to that sort of information, a lot of tiles to turn over and examine with great detail.

"Miguel, you're the only one I really trust."

"Sir?"

It was horrid enough inside his head that he'd have to make this request, but Miguel really was the only one who could pull this off and make sure it remained under the table where it belonged as to not throw a spanner in the works.

"There were only a select few who would have knowledge to the whereabouts of the full clientele list. But I feel that has been compromised."

Miguel nodded and leant against the nearest wall. "You want me to find a mole and extract the information, right?"

"That's exactly it."

"Alright then, consider it done," he pushed off of the wall and wandered over towards the bar, taking up a stool. "Oh, you better get home soon, there's nothing more you can do here. Your wife isn't that pleased you're still out."

"Damn," it hadn't slipped his mind, but it did all the same.

There certainly was some making up to do.

And none of this was even Suguru's doing.

<- Prev

-> Next A gold band

[liminalbeans]

MY TOP 20 FAVORITE BEANIE BABIES (LONG POST)

this was a TOUGH list to make, since there are countless wonderful beanie babies out there and I it was hard to narrow it down to just 20. I was originally going to have just a top 10 list but limiting myself to just 10 is just too much to ask. this list isn't ranked or anything, I like all of these equally.

1. Grunt the razorback

I don't even know what it is about this dude that I love so so much, but he's great. Maybe it's because he was one of the first beanies I ever got, but he feels like one of the most beanie baby beanie babies ever, if that makes sense. The bright red color. The simple design and floppy body. The felt details. Yes sir, this is a mighty fine beanie.

2. Goochy the jellyfish

I feel like I legally can't have a "top best beanie" list without goochy. It's just required. I mean come on, it's goochy. Look at his curious, kind eyes. His pleasing pastel ombre colors. His tentacles and frills, perfect for using him as a fidget toy. 10/10, no notes

3. Swirly the snail

Same as with Goochy, I think if I made this list and posted it without Swirly, I would have my account shut down and all my beanie babies confiscated immediately. And I'd 100 percent deserve it, too. I mean LOOK at him.

4. Kaleidescope the cat

Ok, I know I said this wasn't a ranked list and I liked all the beanies on here equally, but...if I had to choose one of them to be my top favorite Beanie Baby ever, I would choose this one. Fuzzy purple nose! 12 different colors and patterns! Cool realistic yellow cat eyes! Perfect shape to hold! A cat! I've never seen a toy have so many different colors and patterns without looking too busy or over designed. The rainbow cheek/side of the head pattern is my favorite of kaleidescope's patterns.

4. Zodiac goat

What can I say, I'm a sucker for bright colors and fun patterns. Something and the gentle smeared rainbow pattern of this goat is so incredibly satisfying to look at, and I like his hooves each being a different color. It also helps that I really like goats.

5. Scorch and magic

Okay okay, this might be cheating a bit, having two beanies as one entry, but it feels wrong not to have these two together. Why do I like these so much? Well first off they're dragons, which already puts them up there with the best of the best, but also the shiny crinkly stuff their wings are made out of is absolutely wonderful to look at and feel.

6. 4-H beanie baby bear

This one is here for mostly personal reasons. You see, I have been involved in 4-H for most of my life, and it has been an amazing experience. I made friends, I gained new life experiences, and did tons of things that I would not have done otherwise. I got jobs through 4-H when I was old enough, and it even influenced which college I went to and what I majored in. So when I learned there was a beanie for it, I knew I had to include it.

7. Cheezer

Cheezer.

8. These clown style birthday bears

Even though I used the picture of the light blue one, this one comes in 12 different colors (one for each month's birthstone) and I don't have a favorite color/month, i just like this line of beanies in general. They have that smeared rainbow fabric that I like (is smeared the right word? Idk how to describe it otherwise) and I like the clown vibes they have going on.

Oh and I just hit the 10 image post limit. This will be continued in a reblog.

[francisjohnpatrickmulcahy]

Okay different poll because I'm confused about canon.

This remains my pinned post, so info and a small DNI under the cut

Hi!

Do your clicks!

Okay, on to business!

My main is @plebeiangoth so you'll probably see that name liking and following you if you see your stuff here. I go by Pleb in social media and fan convention spaces. I've been a fan of MASH since my early teens going back about 20 years at this point. I'm really glad to see so many Mulcahy stans!

Not a lot of original content here, it's as it says on the tin: Father Mulcahy Echochamber. Mostly queued reblogs of whatever I find and want to stuff into the echochamber.

But I did make this silly thing:

Actually we don't need to be mutuals to DM me, in fact feel free to message me about anything. More accurately I think I talk like Chat GPT lol. I'll get better at socializing, I'm working on it lol

Here's a list of tags I regularly maintain

DNI:

Pro-police/war/military, anti-vax/medical, etc. You're probably missing the point of MASH so I don't think you belong here.

TERFs, homophobes, aphobes, anyone who hates me and my gay and trans friends

MAPs/pedos, rapists by any other name

Pro-Isreal

Christian Nationalists, alt right, MAGA, nazi by any other name

If you're under 18:

Also refrain from interaction

This space is not for minors and I will not interact with minors

Just didn't want to put minors in the same category as those listed above. This is for your safety, not mine!

What I post:

Primarily 💚Father Mulcahy💚

Including but not limited to thirst posts and 💚Hawkahy💚

I have no gods and no shame of saying whatever affectionate/appreciative/raunchy things I want about a fictional character who happens to be a priest. If that's a problem, this space isn't for you.

MASH content in general, can't stick to just Mulcahy

Occasional NSFW

Mostly reblogs, not much original content

Literal echochamber

As an atheist and former Christian, please understand that I would never post anything that is intended to be promoting any religion or spiritual ideology.

Okay now I'm done being a buzzkill. As thanks for reading here's my favorite recipe for gluten-free cinnamon rolls. My secret ingredients are 2Tbsp psyllium husk powder in the dry ingredients, and a few cranks of a pepper grinder in the cinnamon-sugar filling!

Hope you have a wonderful day

[stangeranfanficion]

So….. The New TF2 comic came out.

My opinion on it? TW SUICIDE/SUICIDE IMAGERY

Thanks, therapist from Scott the Woz episode Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash | The Darker Age of Nintendo. I do feel the same way about this comic. My wife? Missing. The retcons? Plentiful. The Overall lack of care or understanding of these characters I grew to love? OH BOY, IT'S ALL HERE!! It's all on a hastily rushed-feeling package too, despite it being around what? Eight years? 

While that was a bit hyperbolic, I honestly feel there are themes and ideals I like in here. It isn’t bad if you are a casual Tf2 fan or if you mainly only enjoy the mercs and don’t reread the same four blog posts about a single micro detail on why Saxton Hale would smell like swamp gas. I do not want this post to be taken as the writers are evil human beings who personally look at my ideas on admin and personally rub their hands together and say yes kill that one single person. I personally don’t think it is a moral crime to make bad media. I don't want this to be turned into a Steven Universe rant video that tries to claim Rebecca Sugar caused every horrible world event. Anything like the first paragraph is more so written in hyperbolic because I am bad at dictating tone in text without spelling it out. However, I will make some personal claims about how some aspects of tf2 writing in this comic, in particular, is kinda not great in the sense that it feels misogynistic. Not claiming the writers are just saying it feels like it and I feel should be pointed out on how to not write female characters. 

However, let me like first point out on what I did like about the comic in a small list.

Olivia Mann's aged-up design is so cute! She would run Tumblr like the Navy on her options on why Starlight Glimmer sucks and terrorize people on Neopets.

I thought the art was WONDERFUL. I personally love the framing of this comic and a lot of the scenes feel so intense. The one scene with Admin digging the grave up was so chilling, the covers are wonderful, with three whole renders to boot! So please remember when I criticize some events in the comics, this isn't at the artist drawing these scenes. Hell please do what they did with Showdown and release the version without words so we can see the full art.

We have a new cute old lady from TFI, shes uber cute and stuff.

I’m glad for the Tribute, Rip fligh high soldier Rick May.

I am really glad they at least teased Admin Pauling (not the ship the idea that Miss Pauling would be the new Administrator of TFI) I always loved the idea that Miss Pauling was a loss end for her and wanted her to become the next “Admin” figure in Helen’s life. How fan art interpreted this idea before the final comic was amazing especially that one piece with the gun and Miss Pauling shooting herself. It was always a really powerful comic so shout out to that artist.

I liked seeing the inside world of TFI. I still have major issues with it and how the fuck this makes sense and also how they handled the interworlds of it but I like it was included because I genuinely thought TFI was fully reconned.

Sniper supports stealing planes (:

I like that we got comic-relevant Merasmus even tho I hate him being buff now. However it was nice they didn’t forget his nickname T-bone.

I support the opinion that Admin keeps bees. She would love those lil fuckers. Thank you, comic for actually putting in a new piece of admin lore I like.

And that's about it, really. Everything else in it was just an “okay,” or what I like to call “oh no, girl.” 

To me i already had an off relationship with the tf2 comics, or at least the mainline comics. I never really fully connected to the storys presented within mainline. I was always never really liked them and even with the details I did like where usually quished between 10 more pages I didn’t. Which I think is fine. TF2 seems like a game where not even the writers seem fully on the same page and you know what I’m fine with that. I been in worst fandoms with that type of shit (ex Harry Potter fan) and honestly to me I personally enjoy seeing in what fans make with theses characters. If we  we didn’t allow for different interpretations of these characters we couldn’t get things like tf2 freaks nor short storys like Emenis Blue. But the TF2 comics are bit different from lets say the tf2 updates comics these comics claim they would be the main storyline of tf2 and that just kinda feels not great to me. Mainly because with how much of tf2 you could never really wrap up the entire story line to please everyone. That fact isnt really helped that their was a 8 year time gap between comics. So to say I came in with low expectations on how much I would like this comic was low. Not saying the whole fandom but me as the one really hyper obsessed Admin tf2 fan who ships her with a character who has never even canonally connected nor talked to her. So if you hear me make any opinion you dont like you can always say counter point: adminsniper fan.

But to simply say, I was extremely disappointed in this comic and the lore presented to one character in particular. 

Helen, Elizabeth, or even the now canon Emily (another thing I did like to see) is probably my most beloved TF2 character by a long shot. To understand she is the TF2 character I have a whole file dedicated to on my computer and also the album I have most pictures saved of any tf2 character other than sniper who gets a past because AdminSniper (™). The second neopet I have ever created is Administrator_TF2 with an script that makes her just speak in Admin TF2 quotes. And like don’t take this as “I’m a better fan compared to you unwillful reader” take it more so as “man how wasn’t I diagnosis with autism 5 years ago.” To me Admin was a dearly connected character to my heart just because shes silly. She is in fact the ultra hater who is so petty she caused those two men to fight forever. Shes a fun character who just overall a nassy lil bitch who personally seems to make it so she ruins everyone elses days for her own motives. The personal detail that made me truely fall in love however was in the tf2 comic post “Gift Abuse: The Gift That Keeps on Abusing” is the detail that on her annual hour-long vacation what she does is go out to feed the pigeons just to cause them to battle in a war and planted seeds of doubt within their leaders and now is planning to take away their bread. That is what I truely love about her. It just seems shes just really to do any means just to cause shit. One headcanon that I personally love is that she just lied in Showdown just to cause shit between Heavy and Pyro for not having the funds to help both of them. To me personally thats what I just love about her she just seems very much within her own motives and doing things to get her own way in the end.

So why am I not happy with what they with her. I got exactly what I wanted…Right? I got Admin being the worlds most petty bitch. You can’t get more petty than having some guy fully be entranced by watching his worst nightmare play out for eternity. This is perfect- Right?

Wellllllll idk. In theory the ideas presented in the comic I like. The idea that admin lived so long that she doesn’t even know why she is doing this is a good idea. It fits into the ideas set up with how pointless the gravels wars is with how pointless admin is doing this to a probaby not even ghost possessed corpus. I also like how it didn’t remove her pettiness. I was never really interested in even learning her huge ass plan I was more entertained by the overall story of her just ruining everyone elses live that when Zeph is dead for the first time we see her truely in what seems to be true happiness. But why in practice does it feel so hallow to me. Like yeah, in theory I love every single bit of this this is pure and healthy admin goodness. This is great! If Zeph was an actually character I gave a single shit about.

To be honest, Zeph was a more interesting character in death than he was in life. At best of times he was boring. At worst of time he was the most uninteresting character in the room. Even his eras Saxton Hale, Barnabus Hale had more going on. He showed remorse to Brette (who lets remind people is related to Darling!) after her death. He seems genuienly broken up about compared to anyone else. Zeph is just seems indifferent and just like going though the motions. Basically any themes with him wanting his sons compete and become a true Mann was handled better I feel with Admin or in this time Elizabeth. I’m not saying he was a bad character due to his role in the story. Sometimes a character needs a two dimensional dad character just to help get the ball roling so you can see “yeah….that’s how they ended up.” It just like I don’t really even care for him, he wasn’t really interest nor really have a connection with Helen at all. Compared this with Hale’s family we see one of the first people in the US with a Phoneline is her and she is made VERY clear on coal town with the “if SHE calls” go to to Bilious Hale. Yeah it is true that Helen was hired by him it doesn’t really seemed like a really connection. Like yeah she got the Austerlium but its either your sons you know are about to kill the other or the man who fights animals every day in the wilderness. They didn’t really established anything outside of “she works for him” and “she hates his sons.” Their needed to be more set up to even let me fully give a damn on why I should start to care. 

“But but her parents died!!!!”

Oh god not that. Ok look, I ain’t against the idea of “to make a cartoon villain motives make sense, one must give them a uber tragic backstory on how there parents died.” But man, after Book of Bill basically pulled off the what now feels like an overdone trope that been beaten to death, I couldn’t give a single damn. If you could find one for me please give it because sadly I can’t find it. I have sadly grown tired of how creators think to make their villains now super deep and a complex character is by giving them dead parents. I am so tired. Somehow admin was so inspired by Cruella de Vil that they even ripped off her new backstory in the Cruella (2021) stupid ass backstory. Which is in fact a bold new choice that they infact did! I do think it is cool/a cool idea that admin probably can’t remember why her parents died. However it doesn't change the fact that it is still an overused trope that feels more like a rush job that tries to explain why Helen hated Zeph in the quickest speedrun possible. It feels unearned, I don’t even care if Helen had a motive; hell, her motive could have been when she was ten, Zeph called her fursona cringe, and I would have dined in that. This also doesn’t help in why Baby Admin was in that australium rod at the end of comic 6. Because now it doesn’t even make logical sense if she knew about it if she was a kid and had no connection to Zeph. Again to me this new motive and backstory feels like a kick in the face to me. It was already web established that it just seemed Helen was already a shady ass person. Like so much the wiki for the longest time has an unsourced fact that apparently, admin had control of every single world government at one point. Which is such a fascinating fact if it is true. Even then you could have just stated that the Mann family was just unlucky. She already saw potential unrest within the family and used it as an opperutinty of just to raise in status, to issue control better. Or more phrased better to have an affinity to violence, just like our favorite mercs. She was one of the first tf2 characters of the 10, you just couldn’t see her. She probably saw the newspaper to see a mother who recently died of an incredibly rich and successful family and just decide to fuck with them. It is not personal, just like how when the mercs kill it doesn’t seem personal until war. Would Zeph really see her cause wars between pigeons in the park? Was it needed to join every world government when she was already controlling the economy with her shell corps? Is she seeing that in her head? Or is it just that she craves blood? Not of Manns, or Hales, or anyone in the world. She is alive out of spite, of something in her that can’t be fed. Just like how the mercs go out and fight the same endless war, respawning after death over and over again for what? Things to make them better at killing? For things to just show your enemies you better as you blow off their heads?  And I think that's just more interesting than just another her parents died to him. She just craves violence just like the mercs so why judge her. Why judge her when they do the same, in the same ideal of pointless killing just to see your enemies suffer? She is the symbol of capitalism with Hale as the environmental impacts and Grey as the rapid growth of tech and how people waste their money on it. She's the untamed bull of Wall Street. The need to keep expanding and expanding while hurting those under her just for more power and greed. As she said herself “Greed is Good”.

But NOOOOOOOO, that's stupid. We need a new trendy backstory that people like already. And so Admin gets a dead mom. This is how tf2 makes complex characters; give them daddy issues! All jokes aside, I do not like this backstory. Again, it feels forced and more so a speedrun on actually explaining why she does the things she does, which feels unearned. I feel this would be a lot better if the first Admin backstory drop section aka the first time she met Zeph was a whole new comic. Call it Bloodlines or something and give us a reason why Admin and Zeph even have a relationship in the first place. Then reveal the twist in the final comic, and that feels 100% more earned than just infodumping everything making it feel like admin randomly got a motive from the thinnest of air. Give us anything idk even just show them at a Christmas party talking about the weather, I can't even confirm if they shared a single word before this point. 

Next, another reason I don’t like this backstory is just how TF2 treats its female characters, all four of them. I’m not going to sit here and say that TF2 was actually the pinnacle of writing women. It had a lot of flaws, especially the mainline comics, which basically introduced female characters just to use them as development fodder (Mags) or just to ship off one character (Zhanna). Even then we only had two main female characters that weren't just mothers of the mercs that we knew for the longest time. These two were Miss Pauling and Admin who in the start were just “loud angry prone to loving violence old lady and the more meek assistant who trying to turn things around and get that big promotion.” So they were perfect for being the shady figures behind the scenes. Over time they got more developed with Miss Pauling exploring her relationships with the mercs and Admin’s own dark history. However the TF2 comics seems purposely uninterest in the lore which make it feels like Admin to alot of people was one note. Even When Pauling got out of her bubble Admin’s main personally traits were locked away in 6 second voice lines or again on the blog posts. However with that small pieces we do have it seems Admin is independent in her own cruelty, Helen didn’t have a central man in her story. She caused pain because she found it fun just like our favorite mercs. Even tho Showdown had Heavy as the main star I feel it characterized Admin greatly in how she interacts with people WAY outside her circle of professionalism. She truely forherself realizes how much shes surrounded by idiots and now just using them to fuel her own love of conflict it makes her so joyious. She is incredibly smart and truely has everything in her control and willing to take herself out and everyone around her with the ticking time bomb on her watch. However I think the face when Heavy says what he really wants really tell her though process here. Also this also supports the admin just like chaos theory with her at the end laughing at the idea of Heavy and Pyro killing the other.

Admin was a character who made alot of impact even when she wasn’t the main focus. Which draws into her independence as a full fleshed out character. She was mapulitive Which felt nice, again having your female characters who are just obsessed with their male counterparts is great. Admin could be violence and mean and down right cruel and disgusting without some mysterious outside force causing it. However the last comic drops and OH BOY they reduced her entire character to an obsession with one man! A man who never even shared a single line with her is actually the apple of her eye. A toxic yuriyaoi if you will but god why. Expically sense this comic line has alot of issues with introducing female characters just to be something for the male character. Like Mags being just used to help develop Saxton (sorry saxton fans but he shouldn’t been in the comic that much) or Zhanna who while I do love just gotta admit feels like she was added just to keep soldier as a main character vs others like Demoman. My friend said my own feeling on the matter best with this very simple quote so shout out to Thrn from neopets “personally not a fan of the reduction of her character to obsession with one dude.” Which yeah thats what happened to Admin and like I am upset from that. Again her “haterism” was to the world at large, yeah she a horrible person to the Mann family but like I dont think a character who have said this before “How I do love the holiday season. A time of year that makes the sweet things in life seem so much the sweeter. A time when ignoring the mournful cries of a litter of famished puppies provides the deep satisfaction of labored accomplishment. A time when delivering a sharp kick to the exposed shin of a desperate beggar takes on a certain character of charity. A time when sending one's witless minions repeatedly to their deaths at the hands of their equally witless enemies provides an unrivaled and noble joy. “ really is just made at one guy I think theirs more there. It feels very deleberte like it isn’t just a bad pattern. It feels  misogynistic with the now three times the charm pattern. Again I get that TF2 is a series that isn’t known to write woman but it sad to see one of the few characters that were important enough to get a whole comic dedicated to her now is probaby going to get fandomifed and make her whole personality around one guy. Which I am not happy with. Already Mags and Zhanna struggle to make personalities shine in fan media. Hell you could even claim Olivia was primarily only known for being the daughter to Grey Mann and now having a father in Saxton. She didn’t even get a personally or any real moment to shine even tho with her orange eyes it might imply she was an australium baby. Again if this wasn’t a pattern of introducing a female character just to act as a prop in Olivias case, some admire of a guys affection (Zhanna), or just to be used as a tool to develop another character (Mags), then I wouldn’t proababy be here calling this misogynistic but because I feel this is a pattern that it needs to be called out. 

The final point I want to make is that I just truely didn’t like the Helene commits and success in suicide. Now please undersyand I do not struggle with suicide or suicide idealation. I probably more so struggle with undiagosied ocd and intrusive thoughts. Because of this I do not feel comfortable claiming if this was good representation of these real mental health issues. The only think I say I got some weird being seen moments from Admin with her obsession of Zeph feeling less like she wants to torture and more like the worlds worst ocd mental breakdown. In this case I will in fact start lying to myself Admin canonally have OCD and Autism #win. I also don’t think its a bad idea perchance. It humanizes her in a way that we the readers fully never seen. It’s a powerful scene to show how much her obession with this man has gone. But I just don’t know, reading that scene felt like a slap in the face. A full rewrite of her character to be focused onto one man and never going to have her own motives for pure malice again. I just feel hallow reading it. And not like in the I am sad that Admin is committing suicide but more so I’m upset they took my favorite character and turned her into just one thing. Her obsession with one guy. Already I said I didn’t like mainline, mainly how some characters like Demo was written. One such character was Admin. I felt it was fine but just off like more so in the way only a simpsons gag of “I hope somebody got fired for that blunder” type shit (also I didn’t like her young shes hotter when old like a fine wine). But now? Im fucking pissed at this scene. It is the scene that stapled any chance of admin having an interesting motive and plot and replaced it with the generic stock villain plotline revenge treat we been seeing for decades. I think what made the straw break the full spine of the camel was the weird recton with Admins iconic white streak actually being from Australium magic after she dies which is rectoning the Loose Canon comic AND the FUCKING PICTURE AT THE END OF THE SAME COMIC IT WAS INTRODUCED IN. It even rectons the LORE WRAPUP COMIC. You know the comic thats supposed to help wrap people up onto the same page? Not anymore its outdate! Which shows the underlying issue that the TF2 mainline comics seems to have, they seem very uninterested about the characters and complex arcs they are presenting. The TF2 lore characters are so much more complex and need more screentime because of that. A lot of them characters that come from trauma or are within a family the actively wants to kill the other and tear the other down. However it seems like the writing seems very uninterested in actually like treating the characters like people. The comic seems way to “Oops did I just do that?” to the camera and spent more time with very unfunny toilet humor as a source of dangling keys. 

This is why I partly I don’t like this scene, it symbolizes why I don’t like this comic, the reduction of Admin’s character into easily to swallow tropes, the overall lack of care clearly put into the overall TF2 lore, and just how so much had to recton that the “Adminastors mystery” felt less like your putting clues together to try and find that end goal into “what are they going to pull out of a hat and recton now!” It just feels incomplete….SO TAKE A WILD GUESS WHAT HAPPENED WHEN I WAS WRITING.

So….It was incomplete, they ripped out so much to try and squeeze in some extra time for the “main characters” which isn’t g r e a t. Again this supports how little the writing seems interested in these lore characters. They will be push aside for hit or miss jokes that either you will like or hate. This I feel was a bad final send off and just over all very lacking. We bearly had any loose ends finally tied off and actually makes some things make less sense now with retrospect. Which just make Zeph feel even more useless because its clear they didn’t care so why sould I you know? But I think Ill take my peace before I start infodumping on every single micropixal with my funny purple lady.

So I don’t have much else to say other than just repeating the same points over and over on how the writers clearly didn’t know what to do. And that's okay, I feel, at least rn when I'm writing Adminsniper I’m going to have a hell of a time. But right now I don’t feel malice at the writers. They don’t deserve hate or death threats or anything just for writing what I think is a bad comic. Im just more so trying to say please be normal you are upset like I am. However, I not saying you personally reading my words behind that screen needs to suddenly force themselves to like this comic. Because I feel that gets us nowhere it just ends up people trying to like something they hate and ends up a big mess that causes 300 years of fandom discourse for people trying to cause others to force them to like it. I don’t care you see this comic as the next coming of christ good for you if ya do. Hell I wish I liked it, its a huge event for everyone in the community but yet why do I feel so hallow. I feel less like a critic and more so like a spoiled child at the birthday party for not liking a comic. Which is why I just saying, this comics ain’t just the single tf2 canon. They are one remixing of the Tf2 lore and maybe hopefully I can get to see great rewrites in the future. All that I’m asking for to be normal. This isn’t a post to spread hate but to share my own ideals. 

Thank you very much, and remember, older admin is hotter than younger. Sorry, not sorry.

Anyways here this is me.

[gen13ordinaryheroes]

Hi !!! Regarding that recently popular post of yours about female characters always existing to indulge the male protagonist or to get involved in something romantic I COULDN'T AGREE MORE , I don't know if it's bc I'm aromantic but I'm just so tired of getting into a movie, book, series with well written female characters only for the writers to give them some sort of romance that most of the times serves as a weakness , or is there to show that she is indeed human guys look she isn't a bitch who only cares about her work /purpose etc. Like give me a fucking break , women can have other flaws and weaknesses it doesn't always have to be a romance thing . It's almost like female characters can only make mistakes or act flawed only when it comes to romance otherwise they are annoying and problematic. There are so many media comics, books , anime, cartoons with male protagonists that never got them romantically involved and yet they are considered complex and fleshed out characters. GIVE ME FEMALE CHARACTERS LIKE THAT please 🙏. Sorry for my yapping , could you please recommend me some of your favorite media with female protagonists that dont focus on romance . I'll take anything, I'm desperate 😮‍💨

List compiled from checking my back-issues and polling multiple discord servers. Extremely comics-heavy because this is a comics blog.

(*) indicates that I have not personally read/watched/played/etc whatever is listed, so I can't personally vouch for it.

Also, due to the fact that I am not personally familiar with everything listed, I can't provide relevant content warnings. Some of these are significantly heavier than others. Some of these are parts of larger franchises that may not make since without background knowledge.

Comics/Graphic Novels:

Amethyst: Princess of Gemworld (1983), (1985), 1986 one-shot, Amethyst (1987).*

Batgirl (2000)

Batgirl (2009)* (these get separate entries because they're about different characters)

Birds of Prey (1999)* and (2010)*-- some romance, but it's not the focus

"Most Black Widow runs"*

Botticelli's Apprentice by Ursula Murray Husted*

Champions (2018) -- ensemble cast with multiple female characters. Some romantic plots, but not the focus.

Dark Spaces: Good Deeds (2023)

DIE (2018) -- ensemble cast with transfem/genderfluid lead. She is married, but her wife exists mostly off-screen, and romance isn't a major plotpoint.

Exiles (2018) -- team book with female lead, I don't think there's any romance, though characters may reference past romantic entanglements

Gotham Academy (2014)*

Harrow County (2015) -- I don't think there's any romance with the main character

Hawkgirl (2023)*

Huntress (1989) -- some light romance, but it's not the focus.

Lumberjanes* -- there is some romance between the leads, apparently, but the main focus is friendship.

Manhunter (2004)*

Patsy Walker, AKA Hellcat! (2015)*

Powergirl (1988) and (2009)*

Radiant Red (2022)* -- main character has a fiance but I am told this is not a major aspect

Scarlet Witch (2015)

Something is Killing the Children (2019-ongoing)

Unbeatable Squirrel Girl (2015), (2015-2017) -- this does feature some light romance, to memory, but I don't think it's central

Unstoppable Wasp (2017), (2018-2019)* (aspec main character and aspec writer)

Wonder Woman: the Hiketeia

Wonder Woman: Historia

World's Finest (2012)

X-23 (2010), All-New Wolverine (2015), and X-23 (2018)

X-Men (2013) -- almost entirely female cast, no romance

Gwenpool, the character-- I know some of her earlier stuff is rather romance-centered, or at least includes romantic plots, but more recently the character is explicitly aroace, so you might be interested.

Anime/Manga:

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure part 6: Stone Ocean* (some romance, but not the main focus)

Magical Girl Dandelion*

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

"Any Ghibli movie with a female protagonist", Spirited Away*

Witch Hat Atelier

Movies/TV:

Alien

The Descent*

Derry Girls*

Evil Dead (2013)*, and Evil Dead Rise*

Hellraiser*

Video Games (blanket statement: I do not play video games. I am not personally familiar with any of these.)

BloodRayne

Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia

Fatal Fame franchise

Resident Evil 2, 3, Resident Evil 8 DLC: Shadows of Rose, Resident Evil: Revelations 1 & 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica

Silent Hill 3

Books

Wayfarers series* by Becky Chambers, especially A Closed and Common Orbit, which has 2 female protagonists and 0 romance. Can be read as standalone.

Tamora Pierce's body of work*-- the amount of romance may vary book-to-book.

I hope this is helpful to some extent or another :) -- others are welcome to add their own recommendations in reblogs/comments.

[swanimagines]

FREDDY CARTER'S CHARACTERS AO3 SERIESES

Just in case because people seem to keep forgetting I write for all of his current characters, or then they think I don't write for others than Kaz and Pin anymore and come up to say they're sad about it 😅 I realised that me not having a common post for all of his characters may, again, make people think I no longer write for them.

So, I still write for all of his characters and will love you forever if you request stuff for them!

I DO NOT WRITE FOR FREDDY HIMSELF, THE ACTOR X READERS!! PLEASE STOP ASKING!

Just because I met him does NOT mean I'm comfortable writing for him. I refuse to be called "selfish" for it. I also will not stand insulting other authors who do write Freddy x reader writers, I don't care if you don't like their writing style and "need" my style for Freddy fics. I have boundaries, and writing RPF is one of my boundaries. Please get that into your heads.

Kaz Brekker

Click here to check out/sub/bookmark my multichapter Kaz story - Bastard and the Blood Princess. It isn't included in my Kaz series because my Kaz series folder/Grishaverse series folder is for fics shorter than 5 chapters, mostly oneshots. Bastard and the Blood Princess has one, long, continuous story and not all people may like the plot, opposed to oneshots/short stuff where each fic has its own plot. So to avoid too much hassle, you need to sub/bookmark BatBP in its own work if you want to get notified for updates for it. I will add BatBP to the Kaz + Grishaverse serieses once the whole thing is out.

Pin Hawthorne

Jason Ripper

Tom (15 Days)

Ellis (The Convent)

Gideon Fletcher

David Friedkin (coming)

Possibly more characters to be added. (A clarification just in case: I do not write RPF/fics for the actor, Freddy Carter himself)

Freddy's characters preferences

Preference means there's a scenario, and I'll tell you how different characters would act like with you in those situations. Situation examples may be: your first date with them, them having a crush on you, them when you get injured somehow, them finding you asleep on their bed. Right now including: Kaz Brekker, Pin Hawthorne, Jason Ripper, Tom from 15 Days and Ellis from the Convent. More characters may get added if he potrays more (fictional) people who I feel like writing for. I will also possibly update my old preference sets and add those new characters into them as new characters come.

For anyone who's concerned, THESE ARE NOT ONESHOT COLLECTIONS, they are made using AO3's "series" feature.

If you want to be informed about new fics for any of Freddy's characters I currently write for, create an AO3 account and subscribe or bookmark any of those serieses listed above. There are buttons at the top right corner for those, or on top on mobile. I do not do Tumblr taglists anymore.

Also, if you're wondering, requests are ALWAYS open and you're welcome to leave one or multiple. Just remember to read my rules and pick a request type from this list.

[fishuus]

hi!! Your art is incredible and awesome... not sure how to say it otherwise but it's super tasty looking lol 🫶

I was wondering if you have ever posted what brushes do you use ? I am always on the lookout for nice brushes! Also if you've got any tips for inking, I'd appreciate it enormously. No worries if not! 💕

hi, thanks so much!

i mostly just use whatever defaults came with clip studio paint. for inking, my go-to is the the default marker pen brush (under the marker tab in pens), but sometimes i'll swap to the calligraphy one (should be in the pen tab), or this brush but with the pen pressure turned off. just depends on how i'm feeling about whatever i'm inking. when i want to add some texturing when toning, i use stuff like the spray or diagonal line brushes (again, should be included in CSP), i just make an eraser version of them so i can also use them on layer masks.

as for inking tips ... i don't have any hard and fast "always do x for y" advice but i rambled a little about how i approach it.

this first point is actually pretty straightforward, it's just to look at inking techniques by artists you like, think about what makes them work so well in their context, and try them out for yourself. this isn't about plagiarizing art styles but more about understanding how other artists choose to stylize certain things in their work, and seeing what works and what doesn't for you personally. sometimes it's through looking at other people's stylizations that you get a better understanding of how you want to approach translating this actual 3d object (people, clothes, background details, whatever) into your own art as well. as you try out various techniques, maybe you find that some of them work well with your own style, and some of them don't and you stop incorporating those. it's all a constant work in progress. over time you can adjust how you use them in a way that fits your own drawing methods and workflows and they just start to come more naturally to you. of course, they may and should change a lot along the way because now it's something that's part of your own style. work on developing a good eye for these things and be thoughtful about what you want to convey and how.

just as an example, daiya no ace by terajima yuji definitely has to be up there for me in terms of influences, the way he approached body lines and clothing folds as a way to convey movement and posing made a lightbulb turn on in my head back when i was still reading it.

not a comprehensive list, but other manga i just like looking at off the top of my head - rookies (morita masanori), anything by yamashita tomoko but i really recommend the night beyond the tricornered window for something that's easily accessible, anything by asada nemui (please check for content warnings for their works first though!), all-rounder meguru (endo hiroki), urasawa naoki's works, dungeon meshi (kui ryoko), witch hat atelier (shirahama kamome), yotsuba&! (azuma kiyohiko), a bride's story (mori kaoru), i recollect love (moegi yukue), the later works of tojitsuki hajime (unfortunately a lot of is now out of print and not accessible online but i managed to get all their books bc their commitment to crosshatching shaved heads each time impressed me so much LMAOSJDsd) etc, etc.

this second thing is much vaguer and harder to quantify but ... honestly just draw a lot and see what feels good to your hand. inking and art styles in general are fluid things. so much of what inking comes down to, to me, is just drawing the lines that in a way that feels good to me. that only really comes from doing it a lot (not saying i'm a hardcore artist or anything lol just that i've been drawing on and off for a while now) and, well, getting a sense of what you like doing. sometimes you might look at a detail you finished that looks really good but feels like a happy accident, and it kinda is, but it's also just as much of the things you've internalized over time. combining the first point (developing your eye and a sense of thoughtfulness about inking) and the second (getting experience through developing your muscle memory) is basically it.

idk if any of this made sense lol but hope some of it helps!!!!!

[unforth]

Since I've seen several posts floating around that try to rebut the points of @end-otw-racism by saying that AO3 is too big to moderate, can we PLEASE take a moment and remember that AO3 IS ALREADY HEAVILY MODERATED.

We all know the obvious one - that if you post anything about monetizing fic, you will be moderated into oblivion. We also all know why! This is essential to AO3's survival as a non-profit! No one would propose changing this!

But a lot of people seem to forget that AO3 is moderated in other ways! For a personal example, several years ago I got a "change this or we're removing your work" e-mail. The work in question? A collection of pseudo-ficlets that were somewhere between outlines and sketchy fics. What I got moderated for? I said in the a/n that if anyone wanted to expand my kinda-outliney nonsense into fully fleshed out stories, they were welcome to do so! I was told this was a violation of the ToS, because fics that are collections of prompts aren't allowed, and that if I didn't change the a/n I'd have to delete the work. Of course I edited the a/n, and my work was allowed, and I moved on. I did, immediately, delete another work I'd posted, which WAS literally sets of prompts I'd written free to a good home. It was clearly in violation of those rules, and I just hadn't realized content like that wasn't allowed.

Numerous things are forbidden on AO3 and will get moderated and potentially deleted, including:

advertising

"find a fic" posts

spam

plagiarized works

virus spreading

doxxing

actual CSAM

lots of other stuff as listed in the tos

If the foundation of your argument is "AO3 is too big to moderate" your argument is bad. AO3 is already moderated.

So that means your ACTUAL argument is "I think AO3 is moderated enough as-is and I don't think AO3 should be moderated in a way that might better protect fans of color."

Having that attitude despite the many, many, MANY fans of colors who say "hey, we don't feel safe here, can this be better moderated to protect us?" (when, by the way, the existing harassment policy SHOULD protect them but clearly isn't being implemented in ways that actually DOES protect them!)

Well. That's sure a take.

(TO BE CLEAR: I am anti-censorship. I am pro-moderation. I am pro-AO3. I fucking love your dark fic, your underage works, your non-con stories, your kinky pwp with "no redeeming qualities," your dirty-wrong-bad ego fics. I would NEVER want a solution that removed that content. And I believe AO3 is the greatest thing to happen to fic in my lifetime and I want it to continue to be the wonderful thing it is. I think that what AO3 already is can be reconciled with the demands of fans of color that they be better protected. I believe fans of color when they say that the current policies don't protect them adequately, that they don't feel safe, that this drives them out of white western fandom. I've listened a lot, and I've seen a lot, and I've learned a lot, and I want AO3 to be better than it is in this regard. I'm honestly kinda depressed how many people seem comfortable with the status quo.)

[sugaredrhubarb]

Reading with Ru: 2023 oct/nov/dec fic and book recs

Hello hello! Back again with some final recs from what I was reading towards the end of the year. Gonna start with cod because that's where most of my moots are, and then some from other fandoms and published romance I've been enjoying as well.

Just in case this goes outside my little circle, please check the tags of anything I rec; I'll try to mention if I think something is particularly dark, but don't read anything you won't like!

COD

landscape with honey by @ceilidho - (bear shifter!price x reader) starting with ceil because, at this rate, I can't write a list without including her. my friendship with ceil partially started from bugging her asks about bear price, so this one is always gonna be special, but I genuinely love it, ceil writes blatant dubcon really well (as we all know), but I think it's in fics like this—when the hero is just a little off, and the reader is caught between what seems too good to be true and a gut instinct that something isn't quite right—that her writing really thrives. Anyway, I'm okay with a big, burly man hibernating with me in a cozy cabin in the woods for a winter. (side note: we need to be talking about ghost x feral witch reader more)

Mind the Drop by @sprout-fics - (BDSM au, price x reader) more aftercare in fics!!! This wonderful one-shot is based in a universe where people are biologically designated as dominant or submissive. Reader is a sub who is feeling the effects of some missed aftercare, which Price takes notice of and offers his... assistance. Honestly, this is just some really well-written comfort and aftercare from a fun concept.

My daddy didn't love me, so I guess I've moved on to you by @makoodles - (price x reader) clearly, I was back in my Price era, and this fic hits on the central theme of my attraction to him in the first place: daddy issues :) So, if you may want to read 17k of Reader and Price succumbing to their attraction and mutual daddy kinks, this one is for you.

Light On by @peachesofteal - (ghost x singlemom!reader) I feel like everyone was reading it, but if you haven't checked out this lovely story yet, please do! It's nice to take a break from the darker fic, and this one is so lovely while still acknowledging Simon's trauma and obsession. Peaches is an excellent writer, and this sent me down a rabbit hole of single-parent fics and books! I could read so much of this.

Pornstar!ghost by @ghosts-cyphera - ( x reader) lo is on a little break right now, but this is another wonderful entry on the soft side of cod fic. I really enjoy Ghost's charisma and confidence on display here, and every update had me giggling and kicking my feet. (I found lo through her price wife x 141 post, which is also a must read)

okay, so @ohbo-ohno (hopefully) knows I love her, and she wrote a ton and is constantly throwing out mind-bogglingly yummy drabbles, so here are some of my favs from her kinktober and 1k celebration: price x reader breeding (surprise, surprise), soap x reader somno (drugged noncon), 141 x reader orgy, ghoap ft price deepthroating, 141 x free use reader (the dream), kingpin price x reader, ex husband price x reader, gaz x reader a/b/o, and my personal fav I think about all the time ghoap x brand new vampire reader. Maybe got a little carried away, but I adore Bo's work, and she has a unique ability to make everything hot.

And finally, @charliemwrites. When making this list, I was tempted to just rec everything Charlie has posted in the last few months, so if you aren't reading her stuff already, I'm jealous that you get to experience it for the first time. Obviously, it would be a mistake to not start with her current fics: charmed slasher simon (he's a serial killer, so violence warning) and woof woof johnny, which are both so fun and compelling, I get so excited whenever I see a new update. I almost daily think about this dark(ish) Price decides you're his wife post. Charlie also writes just wonderful fluff and lighter but emotional relationships too, and both childhood friend simon and bodyguard!gaz have a special place in my heart

other fandoms

casualties by little fools writing/tianawritesfic - (darklina) yet another person I could rec every single work by. This is a boyfriend's roommate cheating fic with the perfect amount of mean man.

You kept me like a secret (i kept you like an oath) by burninghoneyatdusk - (darklina) I genuinely think everyone should read this; it's modern setting, so no canon knowledge needed. Alina wakes up after an accident and discovers she's pregnant, but she doesn't remember the last year of her life, doesn't know who the father is, and most importantly, doesn't remember the affair that ended her relationship. I could talk about it for ages, but I'm just gonna share my comment on the last chapter: "every action, line of dialogue, description, and internal thought felt deliberate— not a single word felt wasted. you stripped both aleks and alina bare and it felt impossible to not take them in completely. i don't even know how to talk about the therapy sessions and alina's healing. the exploration of her guilt, her past, her anger, her confusion it all felt so earnest and raw. what a gift to read."

Bury Us Both by morriganmercy - (Lavinia Lucia/Nick Bruin) this is sibling incest! For the love of god, don't read it if it's not your thing. I know nothing about The Royals of Forsyth series (books?), but this was recd by someone, and I saw the tags codependency, slowburn, heavy angst, pining, and religious guilt, and now here we are.

bonus! published romance I enjoyed

links are to goodreads

Return to Monte Carlo by Cate C. Wells - set in 1982, fmc runs away from her stifling life with her rich italian husband and his snobby family before discovering that she's pregnant. fun, smutty, warning for miscommunication galore. i saw some comments about the fmc being immature but she's swept into this crazy life at like ~19 so idk enjoy your smut and stop thinking so much.

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath - a widowed duchess must learn to get along with a notorious self made rogue when he is given guardianship of her beloved son. I'm a sucker for historical romances and for single parent stories but the combo is so hard to get right and this one did it for me! while sometimes a little ridiculous, i felt the characters actions had clear motivations. watching the mmc's relationship with the son grow was really nice and it actually made sense given his backstory rather than the sudden "guy who hates kids suddenly cares" trope other books do. (warning for discussions of childhood abuse and sa)

Luna and the Lie by Mariana Zapata - say what you will about MZ slow burns but no one else can get me to read 600 pages for one sex scene at 95% in. are most of her character's really similar? yeah. but they're never annoying and i love that they're always good people trying their best. i love all the small details and i love me an older man who is secretly down horrendously bad only to gets worse and worse at not showing it.

Icebreaker by Hanna Grace - people have things to say about this book. do the characters get together early on? yeah. do they hook up in the back of an uber filled with their friends? also yeah (i thought it was hot so). is their very little plot in a 400 page book? sure. i'm here for a good time not to be intellectually challenged. i actually enjoyed seeing their time together and really enjoyed that they just fucking communicated even if there were mistakes along the way. plus big nice hockey player who cares about consent? swoon my little canadian heart.

check the reading with ru tag for more!

[applesandbannas747]

Hi! I recently came back to your fic Promised Things and I was curious as to what the significance of the house Nicholas had his eye on was? (It’s been a while since I’ve read this story, so please forgive me if is mentioned and that I simply don’t recall it).

My two theories were:

It’s a place he used to live in, or one that his mother always talked about living in.

It’s a house Nicholas fell in love with while browsing for places to live (pre-Seiji), and represents a life that he thought he couldn’t have (on a car mechanic’s paycheck).

Anon I hope to hell you're still out there/see this, I'm so sorry I'm so slow to respond to things lately TT.TT it means so much to me that you thought enough about Promised Things to wonder about stuff and ask!! I love you!!

In answer to your question-- the significance to the house is profound to Nick in the way that it holds no 'real' significance at all. It's not anywhere he used to live or anywhere he'd ever seen before house hunting with Seiji. It was just the sort of house that he might have liked to live in another life. He moved around a lot as a kid, including getting evicted a handful of times, so a house at all represents a sort of permanence he never expected to have. House hunting with Seiji, of course, turned up fancy mansions Nick would never have chosen for himself and rather than representing stability (and the freedom that comes with being financially secure enough to own a house), promised a different type of prison. Something permanent and absolute and opposite to the life he wants. So the nice but not extravagant house that caught his eye was this fantasy from both standpoints in his life--both stability and freedom. Nick closed out of the tab with its listing 'choice' isn't an option for him. Certainly not with Seiji, who turns choice into a bargaining chip. But then Seiji buys them that house anyway, and it's kind of this little lighthouse in the storm for him.

So you got it pretty close with your second theory, it's just that it represented a life he couldn't have post-Seiji either.

Thank you again for reading and reaching out!! 💜💜💜

[dayscapism]

K-Dramas recommendations & short reviews

Because I've watched way too many to not make a list. Warning: I like romance and fantasy a bit too much.

These shows made me cry. 10/10. Five stars. Recommend to anyone. They live in my mind rent-free:

Extraordinary Attorney Woo (2022) - Attorney Woo is such a wonderful person, I love her character. I can't say much about the representation, but I like that it opens up the conversation around autism & neurodivergence, discrimination and prejudice, particularly in work environments. I rarely like shows about law or lawyers but I was surprisingly engaged with the cases and the story. It deserves a second season. (The only thing I don't like about this show is they're pushing for a MinWoo and Choi Su-Yeon ship. Which huh--disrespectful.)

Hotel Del Luna (2019) - A great place to start with k-dramas if you like paranormal fantasy. This show has such a special place in my heart. I wanted a different ending but I am okay with it because it was a tight narrative. The main character is iconic (Man-Wol please step on me). The show has amazing sets, AMAZING costumes, an amazing OST, amazing and heartbreaking performance by Yeo Jin Goo. The main couple is so soft; like they're such good friends and coworkers and gentle with each other (eventually). It's enemies to reluctant friends to lovers. It's perfect for asexual viewers who want more than physicality in their romance shows. Cons: the secondary characters' goodbyes and backstories left a little to be desired. A few other nitpicks like Chang-Seong is the one to suggest the main character a new hobby instead of her just discovering it by herself.

It's Okay to Not Be Okay (2020) - Also a good place to start with k-dramas. This show is a lesson in good narrative; this has perfect writing & storytelling. The cast is so good. The female lead is an icon. The character work I excellent. The mental health issues are so well addressed and it taught me a lot about mental health I wasn't aware of. Each small minor character plays a very important thematic role. (The villain isn't the best thing ever but she serves her role in the themes and plot.) The production and the storytelling with the children's book animations are just *heart eyes*. The OST is so good too. You need to watch this to understand how good a k-dramas can be. A must-watch.

Goblin: The Lonely and Great God (2016) - This is the most iconic fantasy/paranormal k-drama ever. A lot of current tropes were started here I think (including the weird k drama last-episode time jump separation of the main couple). This show broke me. You will cry. The bromance and comedy are amazing here too. Gong Yoo and Dong Wook Lee have great chemistry. Main female lead is so cute and her character is so heartwarming. The ending felt a bit rushed. The death, existential related stuff with the grim reapers and such is so good tho.

Business Proposal (2022) - Best rom-com ever! (Well, it could be gayer tbh.) It's my new comfort show. I already watched it twice. It's campy, hilarious, chaotic, iconic and messy in a way that feels like real life (but obviously played up for drama and comedy). Excellent character work. The love interest is definitely written by a woman. Gorgeous cast (Sejeon omg I have a crush, but also the others). It was too short! I would have loved another episode, and more of Grandpa and Ha-Ri. Warning: this has the weird kdrama last-episode time jump couple separation.

W: Two Worlds (2016) - A young resident medic accidentally finds her way inside the webcomic her father created. Like, that premise is killer. We have Lee Jong Suk at his finest here; the character fits him so well. He was born to play a lead. This show has amazing meta-commentary on writing, authorship, and existential crisis. The confrontation between the webcomic character Kang Cheol and the author is insane! The main couple is an epic pair. Would rewatch. High wump value. Cons: The second part could have been more swoony with the romance, Kang Cheol kind of became a bit cold. (A warning: this show also has the k drama weird last-episode time jump couple separation.)

Would recommend with popcorn, I rate them 8/10:

Crash Landing on You (2019) - Really good. The main couple has the best chemistry I've ever seen. It's not that much of a personal fave show, but still pretty awesome and will tug at your heart. It got a bit overly dramatic in the last episodes and again, has that k-drama last episode weird time jump couple separation, but here it actually makes sense. And sort of mirrors the separation and eventual unification of the Korean Peninsula. It was very interesting to see the contrast between North and South Korea.

Shooting Stars (2022) - Aside from the terrible, horrible, insulting Africa storyline (where the male lead goes to 'help' African kids with water scarcity, not even a country name is called, he just goes to *gestures vaguely* Africa to help goddammit he's such a beautiful soul! /s) There's a weird creepy sugar mommy wannabe side storyline and it's weird and out of nowhere. But the rest of it is good and campy and the main characters are so cute. All the couples are cute. The male lead is a cute disaster. Female lead is also a capable cutey but a disaster when it comes to romance. It's hilarious. I love all characters. It's fun. It's great. It shows a very interesting side of the entertainment industry.

While You Were Sleeping (2017) - A man and a woman who don't know each other have precognition powers and after they meet, they use them to take down a corrupt lawyer. The show isn't very heavy on the romance, tough the pair work pretty well together. I liked the main actress. Lee Jong Suk has chemistry with anyone. The male role was not exactly a good fit for Jong Suk. He's so much more naturally charming than the character. It's a fun show to pass the time. The found family is nice and all the characters work great together. The mom is great.

The King's Affection (2021) - I'm going to be honest, I didn't finish watching this. Ups. I got bored after episode 15. It's a very slow show but what I watched was quite good. It was just not a show for me. Having a bisexual male lead was awesome, I appreciate that he falls for the main character while he thinks she's a man. (Could be gayer tho, just saying.) Pretty good discussions and reversals of gender cliches. It has complicated parent-child relationships that are very well written which gives a lot of heart and heartbreak to this story. The political stuff gets very convoluted. I really wish the queer part was bigger though, and not limited to the main couple. We could even have poly representation! I still have half a mind to finish this but I don't know There are so many other shows I'd rather watch instead. (Boy, I really need to get into the actually queer side of k-dramas because the side I'm currently on is giving me crumbs.)

Lovers of the Red Sky (2021) - The premise was so cool. This has so much lore I like and the setting is beautiful and rich, but it also has so much lost potential. The plot is very weak in the second half and could be restructured. I loved the atmosphere, costumes and the actors and their characters: the blind cursed scholar nobleman, the female genius cheeky painter and her friend trio and the prince are all great characters. Ahn Hyo Seop is pretty good in it and looks very pretty indeed in historical costume (but the design of the villain creature he's possessed/cursed with is so, so bad omg). Great premise failed execution. Good first half but it went over the rails quickly. Still entertaining if you like historical fantasy.

Romance is a Bonus Book (2019) - It's a bit slow and could have done so much more with the female lead and her child. She's a bit underwhelming and her daughter is barely in the story. The second female character played by Jeong Eu-Gene was awesome, I love this actress now. Lee Jung Suk is always looking hot and being an excellent actor with what he's given; he's very charming here. He could have chemistry with a piece of wood and yet I wasn't that fan of the romance. Maybe it's just because friends to lovers isn't my cup of tea. There's a weird out-of-nowhere backstory between the male leads. The commentary of ageism in the workplace is a bit surface level (it's not that big of a deal for the company if you're overqualified for a job, the point should be that is an issue for you and your career, who is too good for the company). You can tell the writers really care about books; it's definitely a love letter to editors and an interesting window into the world of book publishing; you can feel the love editors put into making books. Bonus: the founding members of the publishing company have very funny moments.

Do no recommend:

King: Eternal Monarch - Couldn't even finish this. I was so, so confused. The dialogue, narrative and backstory make no sense! Everything is so unnecessarily confusing. There's no chemistry between the main couple. The king and the bodyguard had more chemistry. Lee Jung-Jin (playing the villain Lee Lim) & Woo Do-Hwan (the bodyguard) carried this show and are pretty much the only thing good about it. The female lead is sidelined. It had an intriguing premise but failed execution.

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim - Skimmed most of the second half. It's a mess. The love interest CEO is such a narcissist and asshole he wouldn't be able to keep a working, healthy relationship with his partner without some serious therapy first. The female lead seems to be repulsed by him most of the time even when together and even looks scared when they get intimate. There's an unnecessarily convoluted plotline about the main lead's brother and a kidnapping in their past. It has tonal issues and it's cringy rather than funny. The secondary characters are just a lot of useless filler. The female lead sacrifices her independence and dreams to be with the main guy. Just go watch Business Proposal instead.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo - The only pro of this show is IU. The romance went the undeveloped route. Cheap-looking production, with too many episodes, melodramatic, characters pivot in place instead of naturally developing; it's definitely a telenovela. The point that the female lead is from the future doesn't even matter for the story (should have made her a Goryeo historian instead of a random cosmetologist). Pass!

Tomorrow - Could not finish watching. Please, please don't watch it if you're dealing with depression, bullying or suicidal thoughts. Please don't. By episode 2 I was just screaming at the screen. Problematic? This show invented the word problematic. The supernatural task force that's supposed to save people with suicide risk is terrible at therapy and suicide prevention. They tell the person trying to commit suicide, literally on the edge of a building about to jump, that they should do it, that they're weak, they should just jump, go ahead! Like ... what????

Mystic Pop Up Bar - Didn't capture me by episode 2. Got bored. Some say this is better than Hotel Del Luna but I don't agree.

Abyss - It's a weird tonal mix. Would have preferred if it leaned further into the absurd (go all in with the humour or don't at all), the sci-fi or the murder mystery. Instead of just revealing by episode 3 who the murderer is, quickly changing the plot into a chase after the villain, even though he's so lame. But also he is keeps killing people and it gets dark. And then we cut to the main couple being silly and cute. It's so jarring. The leads have a great dynamic and Ahn Hyo Seop knows how to differentiate his characters really well, give them their own flavour., but in the end it's just a cool premise, failed execution. Very average.

Currently watching:

The Crowned Clown - Very interesting concept and gorgeous, gorgeous visuals. Plot drags a little. Has some tonal problems and oversimplification of politics. The best part is when Yeo Jin-Goo acts with himself haha. He's such a talented actor.

The Uncanny Counter - Get's a bit melodramatic sometimes but all four main actors are insanely good.

Tale of the Nine-Tailed - The main romantic relationship needs a lot more development, but the entire show is worth watching just for Dong Wook Lee and Kim Bum as brothers.

Alchemy of Souls - 6/10 so far. Currently watching season 2/part 2. Aside from the prince, I don't particularly care for any of the characters. Unpopular opinion but the main romantic pair have no chemistry. Mu-Deok has more chemistry with Yul and the prince, and the prince has more chemistry with Jang-Uk. The lore is confusing and inconsistent: it breaks its own rules. (Two souls in one body what?? when was this established as a thing?) There's not enough foreshadowing and setting up the rules of magic in this world (the Ice Stone comes up as a deux ex mahcina big plot point in the last second). It also drags; the episodes are too long. There's a lot of saying and ultimately the show doesn't deliver. The narrative structure is straight out of a fantasy Wattpad. The set and costumes are fun and cool for a fantasy world, and the first episode was great.  

[no-sabo]

Alexander's Top 10 Games of 2023

#10: Street Fighter 6

Street Fighter 6 is landing on my list de panzazo because I didn't play enough of Baldur's Gate to include it. Act 1 gang, rise up!

It's tough trying to find the same hype that I had playing Street Fighter IV on the Xbox 360. I don't think I ever put as much hours trying to get good at a fighting game since and I don't think I ever will. This isn't to say that I don't think 6 is as good. My main thing is that I don't think I'll ever be in that kind of place in my life, or have the same friends with the same free time. Getting older is so wack. Street Fighter 6 is cool as hell, though.

#9: Venba

I think for immigrants Venba's themes are well worn ground. Food is perhaps the most powerful anchor to one's culture. Venba is beautiful, touching, and deeply relatable to me as a first born child of immigrant parents.

Make sure you eat something before jumping into this one. I'm pretty sure I ordered Indian food the day after.

#8: A Space for the Unbound

I don't think there's a game on my list with such a stark difference with the level of enjoyment I had between the narrative and the actual play. At times A Space for the Unbound can be extremely tedious.

A lot of the play involves solving puzzles, usually with a pen and paper at hand. That stuff can be nice, however the brief but constant loading in between areas really strained my patience. There's also empty calories in the form of fetch quests that trip up the pacing.

In the end, once credits rolled, those complaints melted away. It's a gripping fantasy story about community, bullying, domestic abuse, anxiety, and depression wrapped in gorgeous, detailed pixel art. And there's an achievement for petting all the cats.

#7: Hi-Fi Rush

Hi-Fi Rush feels like the remake to a long lost Sega game that they developed for the Xbox during their messy Dreamcast console exit. It's tough for me to describe why it's on here. I think I just genuinely miss this tier of game existing. Like, this game had fucking music from Zwan in it. Zwan.

I don't know, man. It's a vibe. It's really well animated, the characters are bright and goofy, and the rhythm infused third person action combat smacks.

I think this was the first game I completed on my Steam Deck in 2023. Actually, I think it's the first game I beaten front to back on it period?

#6: Super Mario Bros. Wonder

I know it's in to trash the New Super Mario Bros. games but I genuinely never had any strong positive feelings for that first DS game and it only lead to further my resentment for that series. They just made so damn many of them.

Mario Wonder, with its Wile E. the Coyote ass animations is so damn refreshing. I think this is probably the best implementation of the self governed difficulty levels, too. A kid can breeze through a lot of these levels, but being a completionist can get brutal in a satisfying kind of way. It's just so nice to be excited for a 2D Mario game again.

#5: Mediterranea Inferno

Part visual novel, part art-house movie, Mediterranea Inferno takes you on vacation with three Italian twinks trying to move past their Covid-19 lock-down trauma. It's funny at times, but quickly veers into some deeply uncomfortable situations. Also, it can get spooky.

It's an important game, but please heed the content warnings.

#4: Eternights

There's something alluring to me about the Persona Social Link system and any time a game decides to mess with that kind of thing I'm game to give it a shot. Eternights' main sell was "dating action game", so, there it is.

The gist here is there's an apocalypse and your player character gets his arm cut off and replaced with a magical one that can transform into, I think, anything? It's a sword for 98% of the game that you use to kill monsters. It's in third person and for the most part it's an OK action game. You get a skill tree and all that and your buds help you fight, though I think the combat truly shines in the back quarter of the game.

The game's whole thing is that you've got a time limit for when a dungeon has to be completed and you can either choose to progress through it or spend time with your friends, who are mostly female.

Now, to my surprise there is a male character that joins your crew late in game who can serve as a love interest and I was curious to see how that would play out given the homophobia present in the games with which it was inspired by.

The same sex story is, I feel, the most interesting route. It flips the corny harem trope on its head and you get what I believe is the most touching and fulfilling end given that character's relationship to the plot. It's respectful in a way the rest of the game wouldn't suggest it.

At some point in the story your characters are falling from up high and to save everyone the player character turns his arm into a bra parachute because in a quick panic he remembers seeing them on one of the girls in your group. It's childish as hell to be sure, but there's a lot of heart here and I can't wait to see what this one man studio does next.

And I'd like to request for more RPGs to be sub-20 hours like this one. It does wonders for pacing.

#3: Jusant

I kinda' just melted into Jusant. This game is gorgeous and the danger free climbing was so meditative during some really dark and ongoing political unrest. It feels selfish to even say this but it felt good to get home and get lost in something that provided very little consequence.

Fuck Joe Biden and free Palestine.

#2: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Sega can keep Jet Set Radio. Team Reptile understood the assignment.

Look, there's a lot you can do to modernize Jet Set and I'm sure Sega's got their top engineers on it but fuck all that. This shit with its simplified graphics runs at 90 FPS on my Steam Deck. It's got all the vibes down and it manages to improve on the mobility and graffiti systems.

Like Hi-Fi Rush I just miss this tier of game but, like, x10 for this specific series. It improves on the concepts of the games that inspired it. I was eating here.

#1: The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

I don't think I have the capacity to express what Breathe of the Wild meant to me when I first played that game back in 2017. It's gotta' be my favorite game of all time. At least, it was? Still is? It's a toss up. Both Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild have surprisingly different philosophies and it sort of depends on how I'm feeling. All this to say that Tears of the Kingdom is a genuine master piece.

I'm sitting here trying to think of where to even begin. Is it the physics driven world that doesn't seem to break no matter what nonsense you throw at it? Do I talk about the fact that this is the most touching Zelda story to date? How about how the Colgera boss fight theme smacks? Why does this game look so good off like 2011 hardware?

Tears of the Kingdom embodies play. It begs you to be curious and creative. A sanbox with a capital S. My favorite game of 2023 and favorite game period?

Best Games of 2022 in 2023

2023 was stacked, but I had to make room for some stuff that I missed the previous year. If I do this list again the 2023 in 2024 section is gonna' be a damn mess.

Melatonin

I played Melatonin in December of 2023 and it came out December of 2022. i'm so sad it took me a whole year to check it out.

It's got cozy little Rhythm Heaven-like micro games that take place within an insomniac's melatonin infused dreams. It's dripping in pastels and good vibes.

Each level, or "night", has 4 or 5 stages that you navigate kind of like a Mario overworld. You'll walk to, say, the "Work" stage where it runs you through a brief tutorial. There you get a feel for the song and the beats you need to match with button presses. Once you get through that it begins your real run. Rinse, wash, repeat.

I like it a lot. The visuals are super pleasant and it's really satisfying when you nail those perfectly timed button presses to the beat of the music. I only just started it but felt compelled to throw it on here.

He Fucked the Girl Out of Me

This one's tough to talk about. I feel like I don't need to be taking up oxygen in this conversation.

He Fucked the Girl Out of Me is a short Game Boy game about sex work and trauma. This game isn't enjoyable, but it is profound and important.

Again, please heed the content warnings.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

If this game had come out in 2023 it would be my number 2.

You begin life on a colony as a 10 year old. You, your parents, and the other colonists escape an Earth on the brink of collapse and crash land on a barely habitable planet. From there you live your life through to adulthood, making choices along the way that affect you, your friends, and the overall colony.

There's a card system that carries a lot of your decision making as a sort of stand in for something like a skill check or a random dice roll. You obtain cards through specific actions and relationships. It's not the greatest mechanic but it's serviceable and feeds well into the gameplay loop.

The game ends when your character turns 20 where your story concludes in one of many different outcomes, but that's not where it stops. The game has a time loop mechanic. You're meant to roll back in on a NG+ and see a lot of the different ways the game could end where you're meant to "fix" mistakes you made in your first playthrough. It works really well and is a core part of the experience.

I binged this game for a whole weekend. I could not put my Steam Deck down. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is Young Adult fiction at its peak and in a year full of platitudes, "one of my all time favorites" feels like it has very little meaning, but man this one of my all time favorites.

[solradguy]

I hope this isn't too inappropriate a question, but I was wondering if you have any advice when it comes to binders? Like, I know a lot of the minutia, but are there any companies you recommend that make good ones? I'm new to the whole actually-doing-it part and I've found conflicting stuff so I though it was better to ask someone who went through that whole thing already. Tbh I don't know anything about your transition and you might not have even did much of that but you're like the main transguy I know

No worries at all!! I'm really comfortable talking about trans stuff and what I've had to do to get where I am, so if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to toss 'em my way and I'll do my best to help out. The only major trans stuff I haven't done yet are any surgeries and changing my name/legal gender marker (pain in the ass to do in Ohio....).

I got kinda lucky and don't really have much boob tissue going on so I don't bind very often, but I do have two GC2B binders: a full tank and a half one. The full one is a lot more comfortable, imo, because I can tuck it into my pants and it kinda like smooths my entire situation out instead of squishing just my upper body and chafing under my ribcage lol. Unfortunately, GC2B's binder quality has dropped BAD in the last 5 years or so. If you can get one for free or dirt cheap then it might be worth it, but otherwise I'd avoid them.

One of my other trans masc buddies has some binders from Underworks that he really likes. He used to have one of the GC2B ones and it got a huge hole right in the middle of it after less than a year... As far as I know, his Underworks ones are still holding up and it's been over two years now. He did say that they were pretty stiff when they first came in and that washing them with just a tiny bit of fabric softener helped. Be careful using too much fabric softener on them though or they'll loosen up maybe too far. Here's their site: https://www.underworks.com/tri-top-chest-binder

I've seen people say Shapeshifter's binders are good too, though I don't personally know anyone who has one by them. They're a lot more expensive than the Underworks binders.... Here's their site: https://shapeshifters.co/

Make sure you read the sizing charts!!! The very first binder I ever bought was WAAAAYYYYY too small because I didn't read the chart very well... I've found that following the chart and then going up one or two sizes fits the best, depending on how big your chest is/how much compression you'll need.

Here's a big spreadsheet document of a lot of other trans resources with comments on specific things for each site too, like where they're based, shipping details (if the packaging is discrete or not, etc), if they're a charity, and so on. There are other binder websites listed and sites for other gender affirming clothing and packers and stuff too: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lSKoxVant40alYL-MZAP9QekUxjl3mH2EB3MidSk0b8/edit#gid=0

There's also this post with even more resources, but it might be a bit overwhelming going through it all right now haha Including it anyway just in case: https://solradguy.tumblr.com/post/719033735814742016

Good luck!! I hope you're able to find one that both fits and is comfortable to wear for long periods ^^